It’s been nearly a year now since Apple announced iCloud at last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. The new cloud storage and computing service was intended to be a free replacement for the old MobileMe, which had required a paid subscription. As part of the announcement, Apple declared that MobileMe would be shutting down in just over one year’s time: on June 30th, 2012.
As that date has gotten closer, Apple has been taking several steps to encourage MobileMe holdouts to go ahead and make the switch before losing their data for good. Back in April they announced that those who hadn’t switched yet because they were still running OS X 10.5 Leopard would get the 10.6 Snow Leopard upgrade for free (iCloud requires OS X 10.7 Lion, and you can only upgrade to Lion, which cost $30, from Snow Leopard, which cost $120). Then in early May they announced that they were extending the offer of free storage for MobileMe subscribers who had paid extra for more space through September.
Now that it’s June, Apple is getting more direct in its efforts to get the remaining MobileMe holdouts to make the switch. Emails started going out today reminding MobileMe subscribers that MobileMe has just 30 days left to live, and that they should get their stuff and clear out before that happens, so that they don’t lose anything. The email includes a convenient link you can follow to download your content. You can also, of course, migrate everything (except your iWeb site) to iCloud. Here’s the email they sent out:
So, if you’re one of those who has held on to your MobileMe account, now is the time to switch. Or, if you can’t switch, at least go ahead and get your data before Apple pulls the plug at the end of the month.